Steve Geller

Steve: Saints rookie profiles - Pierre Warren

by Steve Geller,posted Aug 2 2014 9:56AM

It seems every year that the Saints are able to mine after the NFL draft and uncover a gem of a player that went unselected. One rookie showing that potential this training camp is safety Pierre Warren.

The Jacksonville State product stands 6-foot-2, 200 pounds and led the Gamecocks last season with five interceptions (one returned for a touchdown) and finished second on the team with 76 tackles.

Head coach Sean Payton says, “He has good ball skills, and it appears to have good reactions and is someone who’s beginning to pick up what we’re doing. We just keep giving him reps, giving all these guys work. He’s one of those players, though, where the kicking game is going to be important.”

And Warren is aware his role on special teams will be crucial for him to have a shot at making this roster. He’s been working on the punt and kickoff return teams.

To make things even harder for this undrafted rookie out of a small school, the Saints are pretty stacked at safety between Jairus Byrd, Kenny Vaccaro, Rafael Bush, Marcus Ball, along with rookies Vinnie Sunseri and Ty Zimmerman. Good thing for Warren is that defensive coordinator Rob Ryan likes to use multiple safeties on the field at one time.